Give Your Tartan Its Place in Scottish Heritage
You have created your tartan. Now give it the recognition it deserves.
A tartan can begin as a personal idea, a creative expression or a design inspired by family, place, organisation or cause. But registering it with the Scottish Register of Tartans elevates that design beyond the drawing board, creating a formal record of its colours, pattern and significance within Scotland's living textile heritage.
At Great Scot, we help you take this important step with confidence.
Our Tartan Registration Service is designed for those who have already created their own tartan and wish to navigate the registration process with specialist guidance. We discuss the requirements of the Scottish Register of Tartans with you, review your design and help ensure that it is appropriately prepared for submission and suitable for weaving.
Your design remains your own creation. Our expertise helps prepare it for the recognition it deserves.
What This Service Includes
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Registration guidance: An expert consultation to discuss the registration requirements and the information needed to support your application.
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Design review: We examine your proposed tartan design against the relevant registration requirements and identify any issues that may need attention.
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Weaving-readiness assessment: We check that your design is sufficiently developed and technically suitable for translation into woven tartan cloth.
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Application preparation: Guidance on the design details, colour information, threadcount and supporting information required for submission.
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Registration support: We guide you through the submission process and help you address any questions or issues that arise during assessment.
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Aiming for first-time approval: Our objective is to submit a well-prepared application that meets the Register's requirements from the outset, giving your tartan the strongest possible prospect of approval.
Please note that this service covers registration guidance and preparation. It does not include creating a new tartan design, extensive design modifications, physical yarn samples, CAD design work or weaving unless separately agreed.
Why Register Your Tartan?
A Lasting Place in Scottish Heritage
The Scottish Register of Tartans provides an official record of tartan designs and their associated details. Registration creates a lasting reference for your tartan, allowing its pattern and documented significance to be recognised and consulted by future generations.
Your design becomes part of a wider story: Scotland's extraordinary tradition of textile, identity and belonging.
From Personal Creation to a Mark of Distinction
There is a difference between a tartan design on a screen and a design that has been formally documented in Scotland's national tartan register.
Registration lends your tartan a greater sense of permanence and purpose. It demonstrates that the design has been prepared for formal recognition and that its details have been recorded for posterity.
Whether your tartan celebrates a family, represents a business, honours a special place or commemorates a cause, registration marks an important milestone in its story.
Preserve the Story Behind the Design
A tartan is more than a combination of colours and crossing lines. Its meaning may lie in a family history, a landscape, a shared experience or a set of values.
The registration process provides an opportunity to document the details and significance associated with your design, helping preserve that story alongside the tartan itself.
A Foundation for Future Generations
A registered tartan can become a meaningful inheritance: something that can be woven, worn, gifted and passed down. It may begin with one individual or one generation, but its story can continue long afterwards.
Registration is an important step towards giving your tartan a documented identity that can endure.
Prepare Your Tartan for Weaving
Registration and weaving are distinct processes, but both benefit from a properly developed design.
We help you understand the technical considerations for preparing a tartan for production, including thread count, colour specifications, and repeat pattern. This provides a stronger foundation should you wish to commission woven cloth in the future.
How the Process Works
1. Discuss Your Tartan
We begin with a consultation about your design, its inspiration and the purpose for which it was created. We explain the relevant registration requirements and the information you will need to provide.
2. Review the Design
We assess your design for completeness, consistency and weaving suitability, identifying potential issues before the application is submitted.
Where revisions are necessary, we explain what needs attention. Any substantial design changes or additional design work can be discussed and quoted separately.
3. Prepare for Registration
We help you prepare the relevant design information and supporting details, including the threadcount and colour specifications, in accordance with the Register's requirements.
4. Submit Your Application
With the application prepared, we guide you through the submission process and help you respond to any queries that may arise during assessment.
The Scottish Register of Tartans makes the registration decision. Although careful preparation can improve the prospects of approval, acceptance cannot be guaranteed.
5. Your Tartan's Next Chapter
Once registered, your tartan has an official record within the Scottish Register of Tartans. You can then explore the possibilities of having it woven, commissioning bespoke products or developing your tartan for a wider purpose.
Why Choose Great Scot?
Specialist Tartan Knowledge
We understand that a successful tartan must work both as a design and as a woven textile. Our experience helps us identify practical considerations that might otherwise be overlooked.
A Thorough, Considered Approach
We believe that a tartan deserves to be treated with care and respect. We take the time to understand your design, explain the requirements and help you prepare a considered application.
Looking Beyond Registration
We understand the complete journey from concept to cloth. If you decide to weave your tartan in the future, we can also advise on the next steps and the practical considerations involved in bringing your design to life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to have designed my own tartan already?
Yes. This service is intended for clients who have an existing tartan design and wish to pursue registration. If you need help creating or substantially revising a design, we can discuss our bespoke tartan design service.
Can you guarantee that my tartan will be approved?
No service provider can guarantee the Register's decision. However, we help you understand the requirements, review your design and prepare the application carefully, with the aim of achieving approval on the first submission.
Does registration mean that I own exclusive rights to my tartan?
Registration records a tartan and its associated details; it does not, by itself, establish exclusive intellectual property rights or guarantee legal protection. If you require exclusive rights or wish to protect a design commercially, we recommend obtaining appropriate legal advice.
Does this service include weaving my tartan?
No. This service covers registration guidance and preparation only. Weaving can be commissioned separately once your design is ready for production.
Can I register a tartan for my family, business or charity?
Yes, subject to the Register's requirements and assessment. Tartan designs may be associated with a wide range of people, organisations, places and causes.
Your Design Deserves to Be Taken Seriously
A tartan may begin with a simple idea, but its significance can reach far beyond its creator.
If you have designed a tartan that deserves a lasting place in your family story, your organisation's identity or Scotland's rich textile tradition, we would be delighted to help you take the next step.
Bring us your design. Let us help you prepare it for registration, recognition and posterity.
Questions? Contact our team at answers@greatscotscotland.com.
